The International Communications Industries Association, Inc.® (ICIA®) is pleased to report that InfoComm 03, the professional audiovisual conference and exhibition held May 31-June 6, 2003 in Orlando, Fla., experienced excellent results in attendance and show quality, supporting its position as the #1 marketplace for the AV community worldwide.
At a final count of 19,761, the attendance at the show proved extremely strong. Despite lingering concern about the economy and world events, the number of visitors at this year’s Show almost matched that of 20,260 at InfoComm 02 in Las Vegas. Exhibitors indicated their support for InfoComm, with 561, a new record, participating this year as compared to 539 in 2002. In addition, over 145 companies joined to exhibit at InfoComm 03 for the first time, demonstrating positive growth trends for the AV industry.
InfoComm is attended by the entire AV distribution chain, including dealers, manufacturers’ representatives, independent reps, design consultants, systems integrators, rental and staging companies, and AV buyers and specifiers from business, government and education as well as other environments. The attendees were composed of approximately 75% from within the industry and 25% specifiers, buyers, and high-end users.
Educational sessions were extremely well attended, topping last year's registration at 5,264 registrations for educational courses. In addition to multiple projection and display courses, InfoComm’s audio focus included a first time offering of a 3-day Syn-Aud-Con course that was extremely well attended. Facilities Design for Universities, another 3-day course given as part of InfoComm Academy’s Institute for Professional Development, exceeded all prior records for attendance at 66, while other IPDs also attracted high participation.
Hot topics of the day continued to be IP networking, streaming media and videoconferencing, as indicated by attendance at the most popular seminars that included An Overview of Integrating IP into Today's AV Systems; IP Conferencing; Videoconferencing 101; LCD, Plasma, and OLED: The Three Faces of Monitors; and Streaming Fundamentals in Everyday Language. A Project Management Track offered for the first time by CMMA was well attended by enthusiastic AV professionals on the last day of the show.
As a systems show, InfoComm focuses on the entire systems approach, but this year’s focus on Streaming Media, Collaborative Conferencing, Audio Products, and Networked Products on both the show floor and in conference sessions seemed to have hit the mark. The Collaborative Conferencing Pavilion and a full day’s conferencing track, produced in conjunction with IMCCA, proved to be a welcome addition to the program. In addition, the Projection Summit, conducted at InfoComm by Insight Media and the McLaughlin Group, attracted an excellent turnout in its second year. The Streaming Media Pavilion offered by Primedia Business Media and iShow provided a focus for this popular web-based technology so critical to global communications.
The pre-show Manufacturers’ Industry Forum which featured a powerhouse panel of top executives from industry leaders Crestron, Extron, NEC, SONY, and Telex, was a first-time event attended by so many people there was standing room only. After the forum, Harald Thiel, president of ICIA, bestowed ICIA’s annual Distinguished Achievement Award on industry veteran Jack Culp, CTS, to the appreciation of the crowd. Other long-standing ICIA awards include the Educator of the Year Award, won this year by Gary Kayye, and the Fred Dixon Service in Education Award, bestowed posthumously on Kim Milliken.
Another first time event, InfoComm’s Opening Reception, was also an enormous success as visitors gathered to network the day before the official opening of the InfoComm exhibition.
Two awards programs were launched for the AV community at InfoComm 03, and given the excellent participation will be continued in the coming years. They are the Rental and Staging Systems Awards, produced by UEMedia and Rental and Staging Systems Magazine, and the ARCHI-TECH AV Awards for fixed installations, produced by ARCHI-TECH Magazine.
ICIA’s announcement of its partnership with CEDIA and NSCA to develop Integrated Systems Europe, a combined tradeshow for the European market, created tremendous interest and support from the gathered AV community. In addition, the three associations will partner with IAPL to conduct Integrated Systems China and Integrated Systems Asia, two other umbrella systems events that will fill a void in those regions.
The exhibitors on the show floor expressed their excitement about InfoComm 03, giving positive comments about booth traffic, the professionalism of the show, and other details such as the show theme. Early booth selection and sales for InfoComm 04 to be held June 9-11 in Atlanta, Georgia, took place at InfoComm 03, resulting in over 85% of next year’s show already booked by the conclusion of the Show.
Further demographic details about attendance at InfoComm 03 will be released shortly.
The International Communications Industries Association, Inc.® (ICIA®) is the premier trade association for the professional audiovisual communications industry. ICIA is the founder of InfoComm, the conference and trade exposition for audiovisual communications professionals who come to learn about the latest technologies and available services as well as new and alternative applications. ICIA serves its worldwide membership as the pre-eminent provider of education, training and certification.